Corey Hart with 3 homers, 7 RBIs and a pair of sunglasses. Never surrender, Corey Hart! In short, you should grab him if he’s on waivers (80% owned in Yahoo). In shorter, grab him. In shortest, grab. He’s streaky like Bret Boone’s hair in the 90’s and this is obviously the start of a good one. If he’s not on waivers and someone else owns him, you bid him adieu, assuming you’re French. (I know how much the French are into fantasy baseball.) Just as I felt in the beginning of the year, I don’t think Hart comes anywhere near his 2010 stats. Très bummer! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Stephen Strasburg – Threw off the mound for the first time. His fan club, the House of Strasburg, has time to launder their early-1900s, Austrian officer uniforms as their ordainment of St. Rasburg will probably have to wait until next year.

Nelson Cruz – 1-for-4 with a homer yesterday. He’s baaaaack! Which, for him, is better than “Oh, no, his baaaaack!”

Josh Hamilton – 2-for-4 with his first homer of the season in his return from the DL. Not to be the bee in your bonnet (say that fast 117 times!), but the Yin and Yang nature of the Rangers injuries means Kinsler will probably be hurt within a week now.

Joe Blanton – Will get a second opinion on his elbow. Come on, there’s gotta be one Phillie fan out there that is crazy enough to go Dr. Rosenrosen on Blanton and pretend to be his doctor to shut him down for the year. Here’s your lines, “You’ve got a serious case of tennis elbow.” “But I don’t play tennis.” “I don’t blame you with that elbow.”

Chase Utley – 0-for-5 in his return as the Phils scored 10 runs. Ticker tease! Or is that ticker season?

Edinson Volquez – Sent to the minors. My ERA and WHIP sends its regards in the form of an extended middle finger.

Sam LeCure – Supposedly, he’ll take Volquez’s rotation spot when it comes up again on Friday. LeCure was walking around the clubhouse singing, “I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesday’s gray and Wednesday too…”

Jay Bruce – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs, hitting .282 with 12 homers. We haven’t had a “Grey is a prescient S.O.B.” in a few, so here ya go. Two weeks into the season, people wanted to drop Bruce because of his season-starting slump. Then a giant Gallagher hammer knocked me over the melon and I wrote the Bruce Buy post. (Oh, and Pedro Alvarez was a sell there, when he still had some modicum of value.)

Adam LaRoche – To the DL with a torn LaBrum. Take that, capitalization Gods! “YOU WILL FEEL OUR WRATH.” Uh-oh.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka – Will begin rehab this week. Oh, joy, I get to spell his name regularly again. If you’re hurting at MI (and, really, who isn’t?), I’d stash Nishioka now. He should return in about a week and a half.

Jim Thome – Hit two homers in the same game that Jack Cust hit a home run. With these guys going deep in the same game, it seems like this game should’ve been shown in black and white.

Matt Capps – 1 2/3 IP, 1 ER. The only thing worse than Capps recently has been Nathan. On a real baseball note, the Twins have been dreadful. Feels like the first time in a while they’re out of it this early. Oh, and the Indians have the best record in baseball. Zoinks!

Will Venable – Sent down by the Padres for underperformance. That’s hard to do with their offense. That’s like flunking out of the University of Phoenix. San Diego should move their AAA team to Tijuana. Then when you say, “He got sent down from San Diego,” it’s actually the truth.

Bartolo Colon – 6 IP, 6 ER. Sadly, I’m sure he took out a lot of innocent bystanders when he crashed back to earth.

Carlos Villanueva – 5 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 5 Ks. I used to like Villanueva when he was on the Brewers. Decent K-rate, but he’s getting crazy lucky right now on the Blue Jays. Wouldn’t touch him outside of deep AL-Only leagues. BTW, his last name goes well with the tune, La Isla Bonita. Maybe Lady Gaga will write a song about him.

Jose Bautista – 1-for-3 with his 19th home run. In other news, I don’t know if water is wet or dry because Bautista has changed everything I know about the world.

Kenley Jansen – 2/3 IP, 3 ER and the blown save. Jansen was called on to close the game last night, and that’s where the good news ends. I’d continue to hold Guerrier for now if you’re desperate for saves. Yes, I’m praying I don’t have the audacity to pick up Mike MacDougal. (BTW, Audacity is on the map just above capacity.)

Asdrubal Cabrera – 3-for-4 with his 10th home run and 7th steal. You know there’s gonna be a baby boy this summer in Cleveland named Asdrubal. Then they can hang out with their five-year-old brother, Pronk.

Dustin Pedroia – Fell hard going around 2nd base, but reports are saying he should be fine. If heart and grit were legs and arms, Pedroia would be an octopus and never would’ve fell.

Phil Coke – Left yesterday’s start with an ankle injury, and Furbush replaced him. First there was Coke, then there was Furbush. All that was missing was an Asian guy throwing firecrackers and you’d have Boogie Nights.

I got C Perez,Axford,and Walden. Doing good in saves in a 5×5 11 team league.Should I try to peddle any of these guys then pick up Nathan? Also, would you cut Arrieta,or Stauffer to pick up Latos? Thanks, and get your arses moving in the F& F!!!

Grey or anyone else: In my 20-team league I’m behind on innings (and, as a result, Ks and Ws) and my WHIP and ERA have taken a beating so far all by virtue of having Volquez and Liriano on staff. I finally cut bait with Volquez but need another starter … so far I’ve been streaming when I can but the pickings are slim.

Meanwhile, I’m OK in saves but and a guy in my league needs to make up ground in that category and so I offered Melancon for McClellan but he said he wants me to throw in the handcuff, Lopez, who I also have on staff. I think I should get a better pitcher in return for the pair. In addition to McClellan, his starters are: Peavy, Jaime Garcia, Gio, and Price. Now I know he won’t let Price go but from the others, who would be fair for Melancon/Lopez?

thing two: at first i completely over-thought the denard-nads bit. if you look at it close enough and have slept as little as i (another night without sleep, admittedly) nads actually looks like span if you read it upside down and backward for the first (last) two letters and continue reading backwards but right side up for the last (first) two. see? nads ~= span… anyone, bueller?

@AL KOHOLIC: Yeah, Utley looked really good for his first game back. If you didn’t see the game, he hit two balls right on the nose to dead center that would have been extra bases or homers to other parts of the park. His presence also seemed to revitalize the entire offense, I would get Utley in your lineup if you have him.

What was the deal with Fuentes? ( I didn’t see the OAK game.) Was he pulled for incompetence after Abreu? Is he droppabable now, or hold on to him until Bailey is–if ever–ready? Is there any other OAK guy to pick up?

Jansen’s 40.50 ERA and 6.00 ERA last night should make me stop foolishly chasing saves (It felt so good when they brought him in for the opportunity). But I know it won’t…I’m an addict! Have already cycled thru Oliver, Kuo, Boggs, Guerrier and Eduardo Sanchez. But I did end up with Santos and Salas s a result of my unholy quest.

so in a daily lineup league i sat masterson, and streamed vargas, who of course got rocked. awesome.

also, for those of you that were ready to drop gallardo in april and wondered where the Ks were, well in may he 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and 36 Ks in 32 innings. i’ve said it once, i’ll say it again, usually guys play to the back of their baseball card over 162 games.

obviously there are exceptions, *cough* bautista *cough*, or when a guy is young and breaking out. or in the post-steroid era, when a guy is over 30 and starts showing severe regression, it’s probably the beginning of the end, especially if past 32.

@joe from point pleasant: That’s maybe a Yankee move in that Beachy and Bumgarner might be winning and putting up big numbers for years for your opponent (though Scherzer’s young too). On the other hand, the Yankees do tend to win. But why’ve you got Happ? He’s hapless.

@CL: They’ve all got asterisks, but I’d say lose Dotel. Based on performance, you could lose Guerrier/Rauch, but their respective bullpens have enough question marks it might make sense to hold a little longer. Contreras is stew bones, but if Bastardo or Madson stumble (way less fun than Harlem Shuffle), his value gets a boost.

FU Corey Hart and FU for being on the team I am playing for your streeky week. I have seriously lost HRs to Matt Joyce 2 weeks ago (when I had AGon), last week to Lance Nix and Jason Worth, and now it will be this week to Corey Hart. Ridiculous.

@Long Bawls: I doubt he will keep any of the three guys that I traded him though, its only a 5 player keeper. Maybe Bumgarner if he breaks out, but his ending stats wont look appealing considering his record is 1-6 to start the year. As far as Happ goes, he’s been pitching pretty well lately, and he was the owner of a 2.93 and 3.40 era each of the last two seasons. Not a world-beater, As a backend of the rotation starter I like his potential.

@Chata: That was my thinking. I actually would consider keeping Scherzer if he puts up a big year, I like his stuff.

Ok, I know you’re getting sick of this 8 Team H2H crap, but I gotta do something with my damn offense. I’m consistently getting slaughtered in average (I’m hovering around the .200 mark), but at least my pitching is dominant. With injures to Heyward and Lind I’m being forced to play Dunn and Morrison every day. Here’s my roster:

I need to know if any of these options are better than what I have: Delmon, Frenchy, Bourn, Brantley, Gordon, Abreu, Gardner, Rajai.

I don’t personally think any of those options are better, but I still want your opinion. It’s just tough to have so many players struggling right now and completely underperforming. Especially Dunn, that dude is KILLING me. Thanks man. I will listen to any commenters as well.

brantley is a slight up-grade over zobrist ,
though that swap , alone , wont raise your team batting average much .

your biggest average drains are dunn and uggla .
if you can withstand the “potential” power loss , in an 8-teamer ,
there has to be at least a half dozen 2nd basemen on the waiver wire
that might help solve your problem .
same for dunn .

@Wilsonian: i’d sit tight. i’d trust the struggling guys on your roster to catch fire more than the guys on waivers to do much more than .280ish. the way i look at it is that i’m not winning if dunn doesn’t get his 38-100, and i don’t think anyone on the wire is even going to approach 38-100, so i’m putting my eggs in the dunn basket and sinking or swimming. same thought process with cargo. now a less proven guy like morrison is a different story, if he goes into a funk and frenchy still keeps hitting well, i’d make the swap, cause i view them as similar upside for 2011 right now.

@chata: eh, uggla’s babip is under .200. and his K rate is the lowest it’s been since his rookie year. he’s not gonna hit .300, but he’ll have a month or 2 where he’ll probably bat .300 and get his avg up to at least .240-.250. and yeah overall .240-.250 isn’t impressive, but given you’ve already taken it on the chin for the shit portion of the year, might as well reap the benefits of the good months.

and don’t give me the aj mass bullshit from espn where he tries to argue that guys don’t always even out over the course of a season, i.e. that uggla could maintain a sub-.200 babip. 99% of the time things pretty much even out, and occasionally there is a freak aaron hill sub-.200 babip season out there, but it’s the exception not the rule. and of course young guys break out at some point and old guys get old at some point, and those factors should be taken into consideration.

Ok. It’s May 24th and time to start making a call on Adam Dunn. Or is it?
Does anyone think he’s gonna hit 30 hrs? I’m getting itchy. Trumbo is available and a new candidate for mini donkey.
Also being keeping Bailey stashed on my DL. Have Frankie Frank, Melancon, walden and axford. Which of those is most likely to fade?
Guessing Melancon?

@Wilsonian: not sure why you are wanting to dump zobrist. he should have 2B eligibility and his ISO is in line with his 2008 and 2009 numbers, maybe showing that 2010 was the fluke? hsi avg isn’t gonna save you, but it’s not gonna hurt. i also think uggla gets going with his improved K rate, and it’s not like his FB rates are high.

of the 3 guys, i would think dunn might be showing signs of decline (extremely high K rate, even for him, and high FB rate). but given the potential, i wouldn’t drop him, i’d wait for the 5 HR week and then trade him. just too many HRs to dump on the wire for a marginal guy imo. of the guys on the wire, i probably like frenchy the most,a nd he’ll give you the most power to soften the power blow from dumping dunn. he should hit 25ish HRs imo. the rest of the guys will be lucky to hit more than 20. do you really trust a guy like michael brantley over dunn though? i mean, 15-15! whoa, that’s not winning your league.

@ThePoonTycoon:
You still going to make the arguement that Dunn and Stanton finish with the same numbers? Dunn is hitless off of lefties and looks lost like a midget at a Big and Tall store. I think he is Dunn. Lucky to post .225/25/75.

Update on the vacated Volquez spot. Reineke seems to be the favorite in Cincy…

“The upshot of the Reds’ moves Monday is that Edinson Volquez is being sent to the minors to get straightened out. The other moves were all related to that. Volquez and Jordan Smith were sent out to make room for left-hander Matt Maloney and infielder/outfielder Todd Frazier.

Frazier’s stay could be a short one. The Reds will likely make another move Friday to bring up a pitcher to make Volquez’s start. Either Mike Leake or Chad Reineke will likely get that start. Dontrelle Willis went on the disabled list list Monday with a strained groin.”

@Wilsonian: don’t drop Zobrist. Even in an 8 team league u should be able to net something for either him or Uggla. Most importantly, Zobrist should be slotted at 2B, cos otherwise you’re not reaping his full value.

@paddyman:
I see Dunn as this year’s 2010 C. Pena. Horrible average (he would need to hit .300+ going forward to finish with a .260 avg) The splits are horrible like Pena’s, and the power (while lurking in his Louisville) is currently MIA. Dunn may hit 30, but at what cost? I’ve dropped him for Hosomer and G. Sanchez and Trumbo. Don’t forget, we’re nearly at 200 ABs for many players…it’s no longer “early”.

@ThePoonTycoon: @royce!: I’m not dumping Zorilla. I may try to deal Uggla and/or Dunn once they (hopefully) come around. I may actually try to package Uggla with a solid SP2 or 3 and snag a great bat. My pitching is bordering on ridiculous (possibly 4-5 guys in the running for the Cy).

It looks like I just have to ride the cold hands for awhile and hope my team turns it around, if I can’t make a deal.

Grey Same question essentiall as Kangaroo hops: Keep Fuentes? If Balfour is going to get a shot at saves, and Bailey coming back, it would seem to be an obvious drop.

What’s your thoughts on Ackley? Pick two out of four 2B choices: Kelly johnson, Gordon Beckham, Nishioka, or Ack-Ack.

Thanks for a great column

BTW, advised my wife, who was loaded with 3B/OF in our H2H league, to trade Joe Bats for Ubaldo. Yes I did! This will go down as the worst recommendation in my long fantasy history. Every time ESPN is about to show another bomb by Joey Bats, I change the channel. If he doesn’t slow down, I am soon be confined to the couch.

Hey Grey, thanks as always. Hoping to get your opinion on this… I’m middle of the pack for hitting stats but have pitching to spare (restrictive IP limit means more benchings than i’d care for). Is Haren for Utley giving up too much? What would you expect for Haren nowadays? My team…

Just added Peavy off of waivers this past week, and I had a surplus of 2B talent: Kendrick, Utley, Kelly Johnson, Lowrie

Overall I have a pretty good pitching staff but lacked a true ace. Hopefully Ubaldo will turn it around, I know he’s been one of the unluckiest pitchers so far this season, but the walks have to come down.

I’m feeling a little guilty about Kendrick not getting back on the field yet and probably not for several more days. What do you think of the trade? Does everyone still believe in Ubaldo? I know he’s had a few very good games lately but just can’t get on the winning side of them.

@DHill: nice one. you certainly don’t need kendrick as utley is back, hopefully to stay and KJ should stop sucking soon… Nice flip of Peavy, i think Ubaldo is the better option there. Dunno if Beckham was worth it, but like you said you traded from strengths to address a weakness and your team should be more solid because of it

@Dr. Stats: well it gets easier and easier to make “predictions” the farther into the season we get. that said, yeah, i think dunn ends up relatively close in numbers to stanton. but don’t act like i’m alone in predicting similar numbers for stanton as dunn, shit, most people had dunn being the safer choice of the 2, and i figured i was getting a dunn equivalent on the cheap in the 2 leagues where i landed stanton.

@bravo: yep. OF isn’t as deep as you think (unless you mean a bunch of interchangeable flavors of the week). victorino was off to a great start and is a good bet for 15-30 or maybe better and a decent enough avg.

yeah, i like hamels more than bills, but not enough more to throw a good OF like victorino the deal.

@Sweet D: that’s some good bats with a lot of potential to deal for a blah SS. and yes, i realize blah qualifies drew to be a high end SS, but seriously, he’s on pace for .270-10-95-10. hardly worth overpaying for, you can probably find similar numbers minus a few RBIs on the wire.

@Grey: Jose Contreras is close to comming back but it looks like Ryan Madison is going to retain the closer roll. Would you hold on to Contreras and see how it plays out or should I pick up Chris Narv?

Hi Grey — Which side do you like better in this trade: Michael Young + Anibal for J Upton + Alex Gordon? I’d be getting the Young/Anibal side, which answers needs my team has. But it seems that objectively speaking I’m getting the short end of the stick. What do you think?

i’m actually gonna take a stand that colon’s fine, whatever fine means for him these days. no change. bautista homered off him, which i mean join the club, and then he looked just as good as he has been for most of the game and then had one bad inning that featured two dubious intentional walks. he didn’t suddenly stop throwing hard, and his two-seamer was still fooling people (8 Ks in 6 innings). as long as he can still do that it’s not a mirage.

i refuse to make a shoulder-fat-infusion joke anywhere in this post.

since people have no faith in him at all based on what happened in 2007-2009 and because he’s old and fat they’re gonna be bailing, so i’d buy him right now if i didn’t already own him everywhere. all pitchers have hiccups now and then. he just needs to drink some water and come back in 5 days. and tell the yankee offense to quit screwing around.

Someone my 12 team points league dropped Ryan Zimmerman. I had the high waiver pick and enthusiastically snatched him up while taunting the guy who dropped him and threw him in my DL slot for safe keeping. Since then, I’ve been noticing a lot of the “perts” have been downgrading him signifacantly. Some have him outside of their top 10 3rd basemen now. I know a gut injury is hard to come back from, but there is still plenty of season left to get some productivity out of him, right? Is the timeline the Nats are giving for his return a little too optimistic? I’m sitting pretty solid with Beltre as my 3B, but could still use him in my utility slot. Should I try trading him while he still has some name recognition, or should I hold on to him in case he regains his form? Thanks.

ATTN;Razzball shirts are cool,just got mine,sparky ankle biter,the wife now wants one but wants me biting something other than her ankles,unless im special there is also a nice little surprise baseball gift included,
Go to the top left of this page and type in razzball shirts,scroll down a bit and fill in the blanks,its a simple form for us dumb jocks,the idea of expanding the selections and larger sizes is probably based on the initial sucess,so everyone open up your pockets and atleast check the shirts out,and just think,if you run into someone anywhere ever wearing one of these shirts,youve likely met yourself a new found friend that you would have never known without these shirts,Thank you Grey Rudy and the rest of our razzball family(typed with teary eyes)

Tabata or Crisp for ROS? Saw a stat that Crisp was running 53% of the time that he’s on base or something insane like that. Love Tabata, but if you could sell him and keep Crisp instead, you think that’d be worth it?

@Zeke: I would hold on to him. 3B is not very deep and alot of guys seem to have problems to stay healthy. He is a gifted hitter. I own him too. Dont even think about trading a player of his caliber while he is put on DL, most of the times, you will have to sell low.

Middle Infielders and Jay Bruce are the only thing keeping my team’s head above water considering I own David Wright, Jason Heyward, and Pablo Sandoval. I’ve got Jose Reyes at SS (who I targeted) and Asdrubal Cabrera (who I fell into needing an MI flier late) at MI. Their current ranks at, forget SS, MI, in Yahoo? #1 and #2. You believing in Asdrubal yet? I’ve tentatively had him on and off the block without any takers, and while I don’t think he’ll produce at this level all year, he’s covered my skepticism over with the sweet pine tar and sawdust scent of persuasive production.

Oh, and the other guy keeping my head above water? The one pitcher you criticized me for drafting when I initially posted my team. Can you guess who it is? I’ll give you a hint: his name rhymes with Mosh Reckett. I almost responded to your comment not liking that pick with a comment about how players don’t change, perception of them does, referencing a post you’d made a day earlier, and then cited his elite SIERA from last year. But then I would have caveated it by saying I didn’t really like the pick either but everyone else I liked besides Jordan Zimmermann was gone already and I wound up with Zimm on my next pick anyway.

@William: listiening to Chicago sports radio. Ozzie says that the “6 man rotation will come to an end shortly” and many are saying that Danks is going to be the odd man out. (since humber has pitched so well)

A good Danks is better than all of them. He hasnt pitched the way he should or could, but as Grey mentioned, he hasnt been all that terrible other than wins. I own him and i always liked him because he has that pitbull mentality to go after hitters. You do what you do but i for my one, i give him all the time he needs to get back on track and win some games.

Grey et al: Got a trade offer to consider…
I give R.Zimmerman, B.Phillips, and Storen
for
N.Cruz, D.Wright, and Z.Greinke.

I have Zobrist to fill in 2B, so I could maybe fill him in for Phillips. Zimmerman and Wright seems a wash for me. Losing Storen puts me in a SAGNOF place in the near future, but my outfield/Utility would be Kemp/Cruz/Choo/Pence after the trade.

1. does nathan get a sniff @ closing again?? or is he officially, offically done?
2. can you rank how you currently would own the dodgers pen going forward (for saves)?
3. how do you rank howell/hensley/rzep/thornton/benoit for holds heading onward…

@Mark: asdrubal hit really well as a really young player, 21yo middle infielder, a few years ago, 2007-era with cleveland. then he broke his arm. people underestimate how much a broken bone will mess a guy up. a lot of times when pro athletes break something – like not a stress fracture or whatever, but actually snapping one of the major load-bearing bones – it really seems to take over a year for them to get back to performing at their full natural level. just projecting asdrubal from what he was doing in the majors so young, to now when he’s older, more physically developed, and healthy again – he’s not going to hit 30 home runs, this is crazy, but it’s very possible that he’s pretty good.

A guy in my league is willing to trade me McCutchen but he wants and elite pitcher in return. He won’t take Marcum and thinks Weaver is regressing. I can offer him Haren. Haren for McCutchen a fair deal? Thanks!

I want to pick up Belt, but need to drop one of: dom brown, coughlan, maybin or smoak (prob not him). OF specific positions, have Miggy and belt at 1st and util and Abreu, Rasmus and Quentin as OF starters. Thanks.

I picked up Posada, not for his catcher eligibility, but hoping that he would have a David Ortiz 2010, where everyone says he’s dead, then he rebounds. Dead wrong on that one. I picked up Doumit because I thought he was going to start playing every day or 2 out of 3 after the Pirates put him in the OF for a day or two and he has OF eligibility and wouldn’t make a bad backup OF (if he played in 2 of 3). Neither was a very good move, which is why I believe we could make some money if Razzball would sponsor my fantasy baseball interlock system, which would block moves if you blew over the legal limit. It’s a deep league though, so I only had to cut ties with W. Venable and there’s not much on waivers.

Still is second place though, due in large part to your advice. Thanks!

I could see Phil Coke starring in a remake of Boogie Nights. It’s the handlebar ‘stache. Although you know all about ‘staches and their power. Speaking of staches and bushes, do you see Furbush in a starting role or relief? With Detroit’s bullpen in shambles, he’d be a welcome addition.

That being said, which 2 would you keep; Chapman, Sale, Meek, Jansen, Furbush. And who do you like most of the following; Boesch, Raburn or Dirks. You’re heroic Grey, thanks for everything. Stay cool as always,

Thank you sir for the swift reply! I’d heard about the Oliver call up, although I believe it’s just a spot start or two. I like him more than Furbush long term, but Det needs bullpen help now and I figure on Furbush being better suited for that role. Although perhaps Coke heads to the bullpen, and Oliver stays? We’ll see. Have a good one Grey,

Grey — In a deep mixed league where pitchers like Vargas yesterday, Worley tonight, and Minor tomorrow were all picked up for spot starts at least two days ahead of time … in a league like that, is Mitch Talbot worth picking up for his Wednesday start at home against Boston? The Indians are playing well, but he’s pitching against Lester who threw a shutout against the Indians last time.

have kendrys on my DL, and starting morneau in a 20 team 10 keeper league. does that constitute a need at 1b? thanks for the opinion ahead of time. new reader and i really like the insight you offer. thanks again

@AL KOHOLIC: yeah, the swing he put on the home run last night, seeing the highlight, i was like, wow, that’s asdrubal? he just looks bigger. nice swing too. i was thinking of him as one of those little feathery shortstop body types but he’s grown into it a little bit.

just wish i’d drafted him somewhere. i was a little into him a year ago on the broken arm theory, but it was still too early, apparently. then kinda lost him in the shuffle this year, was busy going after guys like starlin, aviles, lowrie of course. that’s working out a’ight but asdrubal, wow.

I had it Lilly, Holland, Narveson and Stauffer… Thought you might be more bullish on the Holland upside. Granted he pitches in Texas and its starting to heat up and balls will fly, but he seems to be rounding into form lately. I realize the last outing was vs. Royals, but still I like the high k/9 upside.

Grey, would you trade Anderson, Chacin or Kennedy to acquire Greinke right now in a 12-team league? It’s also an 8-player per year keeper league, but I don’t think that any of the 4 SPs would necessarily be keepers for me into next year. Thanks!

I just want to say f*ck Mike Scioscia for ruining a breakout year – all for the sake of ensuring that Alberto Callaspo, Erick Aybar, and Maicer Izturis received everyday at-bats. “Hey Howie’s putting up all-star numbers – let’s move him to the outfield…he’s an African American just like Figgins, it’ll be a seamless transition” BOOM hammy problems. FU Sosh.

I know this was asked already about 40 times today, but I’ve got a caveat or two for it…

Start Peavy tonight? It’s my 8 team h2h league. I’ve got Verlander and Bills tonight, plus I had Hamels last night, and a collection of Lincecum, Pineda, Gio, D.Hudson, and Annabelle still to go this week.

@AL KOHOLIC: I currently have Reyes and Rollins filling my SS and MI spots (Kinsler at 2B). With Mauer, Wright, and Heyward clogging up my bench, I don’t have a lot of room to add people, but would Alexei be worth making room for (Lowrie’s also available, but I don’t know if he’s even in the discussion)?

The Denver Post reports that De La Rosa was diagnosed with a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left (throwing) elbow. Tommy John surgery is almost a definite and De La Rosa and his agent will talk Wednesday to discuss when he’ll undergo the surgery.

MLB just said DeLaRosa probably out for the year with a tear. They are going to get a second opinion, but it doesn’t look good. Anyone know who his replacement would be, and are they worthy of a pick-up?

@Grey: What do you think Alex Rios will do for the rest of the season? If I was going to trade him for closers (or maybe a player and a closer), what do you think would be a fair trade? The guy I am dealing with has Hanrahan, Nunez, League and Madson. I also have Furcal to throw in as I don’t really have a spot for him right now.
Sorry if this question is a little vague…

man, i should get some serious karma back my way from the fantasy gods. i got the offer above this morning (longo + aroldis for greinke + dlr + farnsworth), went to accept it this afternoon at work, saw dlr left injured, so i emailed the guy to give him a heads up. he said he wanted to see the severity of the dlr injury. obviously now the deal is off. but i could have been a complete dick and run accepted the offer. if i don’t win at least 1 fantasy baseball league this year, then there are no fantasy gods.

@Grey: Thank you – that is what I was thinking, but you generally value offensive talent much higher than closers (at least more than I do), but Rios is irritating the #$^% out of me and my OF is pretty set right now (yes, I am a believer in Matt Joyce).

Dangit…Kelly Johnson infuriates me. He was sitting the first half of the d-backs double header so of course I left him on my bench. He’s killing it in the 2nd game though. For the last few weeks, he has had 1 great game a week and I’ve missed all of them with him on my bench. Its hard to guess when to start him because he’ll prob go right back to his typically 0-4 with 3 ks for the rest of the week.

i’m down with setting and forgetting catchers, but in a position where the crap is so close to the good, would it be advisable to try to sell wieters to someone for a decent sp or rp and pick up an arencibia or lucroy or john buck or wilson ramos… and then set and forget them?